NORTH POLE OF THE WINDS 



which rises to heights of from 9,000 to 10,000 feet. 

 The Greenland of the Eskimos, of the Govern- 

 ment officials, and of the sealing, whaling and fish- 

 ing industries, is that of the coast-land ribbon ; and 

 all the settlements are to be found upon the coast 

 usually at the mouths of the larger fjords. 



When we enter the region of the "Great Ice" we 

 are in another world and one of which there is 

 but a single additional example, the Antarctic Con- 

 tinent near the other end of the earth's axis. Over 

 these great masses of ice and snow no life has been 

 found, and our knowledge of them has been ob- 

 tained from the reports of the few hardy explorers 

 who have penetrated the white world of snow and 

 ice. On the northern ice-cap Baron Nordenskiold 

 in 1883 and Peary in 1888 penetrated well toward 

 the interior from the west coast, and in 1888 Nan- 

 sen accomplished the first crossing of the ice in 

 latitude 64° N. toward the southern end of the 

 continent. In 1892 Peary in the greatest sledge 

 journey ever carried through up to that time made 

 a double crossing toward the northern end of the 

 continent, and in 1895 he again made a double 

 transection near the same latitude. The explora- 

 tion of the Greenland ice-cap was not again taken 

 up until 1912 and 1913 when three independent 

 expeditions each succeeded in crossing the conti- 



40 



